At the time this article was
written Norman Ruff was Assistant Professor of Political Science at the
University of Victoria and William Ross was Associate Professor of Geography at
the University of Victoria.

Currently the size of British
Columbia electoral districts range from 15,511 in Atlin to 68,347 in
Surrey-Newton. With 69 seats there is an average of 41,873 persons for each
district.

A British Columbia Royal Commission
has just completed the most extensive provincial redistribution of electoral
districts in decades. It was not envisioned as such when first formed and was
originally appointed solely as a vehicle to end the system of dual member
constituencies. However, it soon became engaged in a fully fledged electoral redistribution
for the whole province.

In 1984, the province made
constitutional provision for a periodic independent review of the number and
allocation of electoral districts under a formula which retained existing
boundaries and added members to single districts or split dual member
districts.(1) Prior to this, redistributions had been ad hoc and sporadic. The
immediate impact of this new procedure was an increase in seats from 57 to 69
(including 17 dual member districts) for the 1986 general election. On the eve
of election day 1986. Premier VanderZalm promised the elimination of all dual
member districts. Five months later, under the Inquiry Act, he acted outside
the 1984 framework and appointed a one-man royal commission on electoral
boundaries.

On April 9, 1987 the Commissioner,
Thomas K_ Fisher, a judge of the County Court of New Westminster, B.C. was
instructed to examine all the two member electoral districts and those
districts "contiguous" to the two member districts, with a view to recommending
the establishment of electoral districts each returning one member to the
Legislative Assembly. In making his recommendations, the Commissioner was
instructed to have regard to:

* the principal of the electoral
quota, that is to say, the quotient obtained by dividing the population of the
Province, as ascertained by the most recent population figures published by
Statistics Canada, pursuant to the Statistics Canada (Canada), by the
total number of members of the Legislative Assembly;

historical and regional claims for representation;

special geographic considerations including the sparsity or density of
population of various regions. the accessibility to such regions or the size or
shape thereof;

special community interests of the inhabitants of particular regions;
and

the need for a balance of community interests. (2)

The Commissioner was to hold
hearings and conduct such other research as he considered appropriate prior to
publishing a preliminary report. , the first of what was to become four sets of
public hearings commenced on June 22, 1987 and concluded in Vancouver on August
12, 1987. In this first phase of the redistribution process, the actual mandate
of the Commission became a primary issue. A number of briefs urged the
Commissioner to interpret his mandate as comprehensively as possible. It was
noted that the term "contiguous" could be broadly interpreted and
certainly did not prohibit the Commission from examining all the districts
within the province. It was also suggested that the total number of districts
was left open and could remain at the existing number of 69, could go higher or
even lower if the Commission so wished.

The Commissioner secured a change
in his mandate in September, 1987 so as to "have the opportunity to
consider all electoral districts in the province to ensure proper
representation for British Columbians in the Legislative (3)

Assembly. The reference to two
member districts and contiguous districts was eliminated and the appropriate
number of districts was left to the Commissioner to decide.

What had begun as a crudely defined
vehicle for the elimination of 17 dual member districts was transformed into a
fully fledged redistribution commission charged with the task of defining and
drawing all electoral boundaries.

On November 23 and 24, 1987,
hearings were held under the new mandate to address the question of the
appropriate number of members of the Legislative Assembly "required to
secure fair and effective representation for the people of British Columbia.(4)
Judge Fisher was particularly interested in the duties of, and demands on, MLAs
and how an increase or decrease in the number of members would affect their
ability to serve constituents. Many redistribution commissions have considered
the work load of MLAs in framing their recommendations, but it is somewhat
unique for a specific round of hearings to be devoted to the question. 71iis
information helped the Commissioner frame his views as to a desirable electoral
quota. On December 9, 1987 Judge Fisher announced a preliminary quota of 38,523
persons for each provincial district, without committing himself to a specific
number of districts or how much a deviation from the quota he would tolerate.
The preliminary decision implied 75 districts (1986 British Columbia population
divided by 38,523) but it was unclear if there would be any deviation level
that is for example, a level of plus or minus 25 %; plus or minus 10%; plus or
minus 1 %, or some other figure. The quota gave only the barest guidance for
drawing the boundaries of a single district. From a province-wide perspective
such a decision made it difficult to prepare a detailed redrawing of all
electoral boundaries without making assumptions about the number of districts
and a deviation level.

The third round of hearings commenced
on January 18, 1988 and concluded on April 15, 1988. This phase of the
redistribution focused on designing a specific electoral map for the province.
A wide range of submissions were received including proposed electoral maps for
the entire province, particular regions and individual electoral districts. All
of the briefs dealt with one or more of the major issues facing the Commission,
namely: (1) the total number of districts; (2) the allocation of districts by
region; (3) the deviation level; (4) specific boundaries for individual
districts; and (5) the names of districts.

On May 27, 1988 Judge Fisher
released his preliminary report. He recommended that membership in the
Legislative Assembly be increased from 69 to 75 members and that dual member ridings
be eliminated. He argued that the only way to deal with the problem of
under-representation of urban areas in the existing Assembly without
exacerbating the problems experienced in northern and remote areas was to
increase the size of the Legislature. The report also established a plus or
minus 25% deviation level around the electoral quota. Here it was noted that a
limit on deviations had been endorsed by the political parties in the province,
academics and the public. The recommendation to limit deviations to plus or
minus 25% was based on this testimony as well as an examination of
representation formulas elsewhere in Canada where a plus or minus 25% deviation
is most common. The Commissioner also attempted to minimise population
differences between neighbouring districts.

Most of the seats added to the
Legislature were in the Lower Mainland. The table below details the allocation
of districts by region.

A number of observations are
pertinent. Vancouver Island gains one district. The North has two more
districts and the Lower Mainland two less than would be warranted by a strict
application of the electoral quota. Population growth has taken place in the
cities and suburbs even in the interior of the province and this is reflected
in the electoral map. In the north, for example, Prince George gains an extra
district while two small districts - Prince Rupert and Atlin are combined to
form, North Coast-Stikine.

On May 30,1988 the then Provincial
Secretary, Elwood Veitch announced appointment of a nine member legislative
committee to study and make unanimous recommendations to the House on die
preliminary report. The Committee was constituted on June 22, 1988 but made no
submission to the Commissioner before his fourth and final round of 6 public
hearings ending on August 12, 1988.(6) Judge Fisher had set September 15, 1988
as the last day for receiving written submissions. Subsequently, the
Legislative Special Committee, under the chairmanship of James Rabbitt (MLA,
Yale-Lillooet), requested that this deadline be extended to enable MLAs to
deposit responses with the committee and the Commissioner acceded to a new
October deadline. (7). An exchange of information took place between the
Special Committee and the Commission but the Committee is yet to make its
report to the House.

Allocation of Districts By Region(5)

Region (1986
Population)

Number of
Districts Existing Districts with Electoral Quota of 38,523

Existing
Districts in Legislative Assembly

Districts Recommended
in Preliminary Report

Vancouver Island

(516,425)

13.41

12

13

North

(311,274)

8.08

10

10

East

(178,079)

4.62

5

5

Interior

(344,691)

8.95

9

9

Lower Mainland

(1,538,738)

39.94

33

38

PROVINCIAL TOTAL

(2,889,207)

75

69

75

The fourth round of hearings (July
19, 1988 to August 12, 1988) provided an opportunity to give feedback to the
Commissioner to help him refine his preliminary report. Hearings were held in six
centres throughout the province -Penticton, Kamloops, Prince George, Prince
Rupert, Victoria and Vancouver. Concern was raised about a number of the
recommendations. These included an increase in the size of the legislature, the
elimination of some northern districts, under-representation of the city of
Vancouver and specific boundaries particularly those involving Williams Lake,
Penticton and Denman Island. The failure to use the full range of the plus or
minus 25% deviation and the constitutionality of such a deviation, the
geographic compactness of districts and the lack of a consistent standard
applied province wide to draw district boundaries were also among the
substantive issues raised about the preliminary report.

The final report of the Commission
was submitted to the cabinet on December 20, 1988. At this juncture it is
unclear what will happen to the report, but there are a number of circumstances
that will help shape its fate. Firstly, the British Columbia Civil Liberties
Association has launched a court challenge to the existing distribution of
electoral districts in British Columbia. The Association maintains that two
member districts and the discrepancy in population among districts is
unconstitutional. The case was heard in the second week of January 1989 by
Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin of the Supreme Court of British Columbia.(8)
Secondly, the June, 1988 preliminary report of the Manitoba Electoral
Boundaries Commissions casts doubt on the constitutionality of plus or minus
25% deviations. All 57 proposed districts in Manitoba are with plus or minus
10% of the provincial quota. Chief Justice Alfred Monnin of Manitoba, Chairman
of the Commission. noted that it feared a court challenge with a plus or minus
25% deviation and explained that Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights
and Freedoms provides for the equality of every citizen. (9) Thirdly, the final
report has to be considered by cabinet and tabled in the Legislature within 15
days after the opening of the new spring 1989 session. Unlike the procedure for
federal redistributions or that in other provinces, publication of the final
report of the Commission is no guarantee that it will be implemented quickly or
in its entirety.

In terms of both substance and
process most observers have viewed the preliminary report as being fair,
sensitive and non-partisan. Population is taken much more seriously than in the
past. In the preliminary report the size of districts would range from 29,529
in North Peace River to 44,825 in Burnaby-Willingdon. The report addresses two
realities about British Columbia which are reflected in the proposed electoral
map. First. population growth has taken place in the suburbs of Prince George
and Kelowna as well as the larger conurbations of Victoria and Vancouver. The
report adds districts in the Lower Mainland and Victoria and adjusts boundaries
in Kelowna and Prince George to reflect this development- Second, there is a
deep sense of alienation in the North. Judge Fisher respects this sentiment by
maintaining the existing number of northern districts even though population
numbers do not warrant such representation. This is not to say the preliminary
report is perfect. Some of the major criticisms have been noted above, but it
is a significant improvement over the existing electoral map, No one party
appears to be favoured, regional and community claims are well respected and
the Commissioner has moved closer to the goal of giving equal weight to the
vote of each British Columbian.

The redistribution process itself
has paralleled that in many provinces with permanent independent boundary
commissions. Credit for this can be attributed to the Commissioner rather than
to a set of rules spelled out in legislation. The process authorised under the
Inquiry Act is ad hoc. There are no guarantees that there will be an
independent review for future redistributions or that the process adopted by
Judge Fisher will be replicated. If his or a similar approach is to be
continued it will be necessary to set out new rules in the provincial
Constitution Act

Notes

1. Statutes of British Columbia,
1984, Chapter 12.

2. British Columbia,
Order-in-Council, 690, April 9,1987.

3. Letter from T. Y_ Fisher to E. Veitch,
Provincial Secretary of British Columbia. August 12, 1987. Reprinted in British
Columbia, Royal Commission on Electoral Boundaries. Preliminary Report of
Proposed Boundaries for British Columbia Electoral Districts, May 27,1988, p.
24. 4. British Columbia. Royal Commission on Electoral Boundaries, Preliminary
Report of Proposed Boundaries for British Columbia Electoral Districts, May
27,1988, p. 2.